More bad news for small business trying to advertise on the Internet. News is out that Google has been hacked sending unsuspecting users to fake websites intent on infecting their computers with malware. Over at Facebook, a staff psychologist harvested the personal data of over 50 million American and shared the information with Cambridge Analytica which illegally used the information to target users for political reasons.

Fake user accounts are infecting social media like Facebook and Twitter causing the social media giants to admit that the problem is far worse than previously acknowledged. In November 2017, Facebook disclosed to shareholders that it had at least twice as many fake users as it previously estimated, perhaps 60 million or more automated accounts. According to a new study by the University of Southern California and Indiana University 15 percent of more (50 million) of Twitter accounts are bots rather than real live people. When you buy digital display advertising on Social Media, you are paying for these fake users.

By now it is becoming abundantly clear, digital display advertising is fraught with fraud and deception. The early promise that digital marketing would bring unprecedented accountability to advertising has evaporated into thin air. Where can you turn for advertising accountability?

Proctor and Gamble, the worlds largest advertiser recently announced that they were cutting back on their digital advertising budget over concerns about click fraud, non-human interaction and ad placement on websites with objectionable content. At the same time, they announced a return to Radio advertising. And for good reason, Radio is the Original Social Medium.